Nina Kosterina: A Young Communist in Stalinist Russia

Nina Kosterina was born in a revolutionary camp as the Bolsheviks took over Russia in the 1920s. She beat the odds of survival during the harsh early years of Communism and emerged in the 1930s as a young Communist woman in love with her country, her family, her city, her friends, politics, art and life. Even when Joseph Stalin's regime tore apart her family and imprisoned her father, she remained loyal to her country and joined an elite group of young women turned guerilla solders when the Germans invaded the Soviet Union in 1941.

​Nina perished in a Nazi ambush behind enemy lines. After the war, her family found her diary hidden in a wardrobe. Nina's diary was released as a book and became an international best seller. Written from ages 15-20, the diary revealed a teenager transforming into an adult juxtaposed against one of the most dangerous and tumultuous periods in world history.

Nina Kosterina: A Young Communist in Stalinist Russia. Biography available in paperback and eBook formats. For teen and older readers. Suitable for use with world history and social studies assignments. Lexile text measure: 1070. Paperback ISBN-13 978-1453886373, 202 pages (includes historical images).

Contact me if you're interested in this project idea: Do you teach a high school or college multimedia class? I’m looking to partner on a transmedia project for my Nina biography. Wouldn’t it be great to bring the Stalin period of Russian history to life for teens through an interactive platform? And give students some practical experience with such a multimedia project? Send me a message if you’reinterested in discussing this idea!